On July 8, the New York Times reported that Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner had a previously undisclosed meeting with a Russian lawyer with alleged “connections with the Kremlin.” In an initial response to the story, Trump Jr. said the meeting was “primarily about an adoption program.”
By the next day, the story shifted. The Times reported new details suggesting Trump Jr. took the meeting after being promised “damaging information” about Hillary Clinton.
.. On July 10, the next shoe dropped. This time, the Times alleged Donald Jr. had received an e-mail beforehand making clear that the lawyer was acting as “part of a Russian government effort to aid his father’s candidacy.”
.. In his latest statement, Trump Jr. claims that the lawyer wasn’t a government official, there was no opposition research, and the meeting was mainly about “adoption policy and the Magnitsky act.”
.. In other words, this isn’t the smoking gun that proves actual “collusion” with Russia, but rather evidence that Trump Jr., Manafort, and Kushner tried to collude with Russia.
.. To repeat, it now looks as if the senior campaign team of a major-party presidential candidate intended to meet with an official representative of a hostile foreign power to facilitate that foreign power’s attempt to influence an American election.
.. at long last we can now put to bed the notion that the Russia investigation is little more than frivolous partisan harassment, and it casts in an entirely different light the president’s fury and frustration at its continued progress.
.. As of now, we should have zero confidence that we know all or even most material facts. We should have zero confidence that Trump’s frustration is entirely due to his feeling like an innocent man caught in the crosshairs of crazed conspiracy theorists. It now appears that his son, son-in-law, and campaign chair met with a lawyer who they were told was part of an official Russian government effort to impact the presidential election. The Russian investigation isn’t a witch hunt anymore, if it ever was. It’s a national necessity.
Republicans have no idea what to say about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer
Why this defense isn’t a defense: It’s the most visual example that Republicans can’t defend what could be legally indefensible. If there was a clear explanation for Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian to get dirt on Clinton, they’d be giving it to reporters, not ducking them while the cameras and microphones are rolling.
Another attempt: Pivot to the media or the Obama administration... But Trump and Cruz are conflating two very different things. Obama was deciding how much to punish Russia for meddling; Trump Jr. appears to have admitted being open to working with the Russians to meddle.
Email to Trump Jr. Says Clinton Info Was Part of Moscow’s Trump Support
President’s son was told information would incriminate Hillary Clinton
The emails also appear to contradict statements by members of the campaign that they were unaware of a Russian effort to support Mr. Trump in the 2016 election. During the campaign and since his election victory, Mr. Trump repeatedly praised Mr. Putin and cast doubt on the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia sought to interfere in the election. Last week, he said in Warsaw: “Nobody knows for sure.”
In a July 24, 2016, interview with CNN, the younger Mr. Trump said the charge that Russia had mounted a campaign to help his father was “so phony.”
Reports: Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner Met with Kremlin-Linked Lawyer
Circa also reported that the meeting was short, lasting only 20 minutes. The outlet also reported that the president’s legal team believe the meeting may have been part of an election-year opposition effort to create the appearance of “improper connections” between Trump and Russia.
.. Mark Corallo, a spokesman for President Trump’s legal team, told Circa:
We have learned from both our own investigation and public reports that the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for. Specifically, we have learned that the person who sought the meeting is associated with Fusion GPS, a firm which according to public reports, was retained by Democratic operatives to develop opposition research on the President and which commissioned the phony Steele dossier.
“These developments raise serious issues as to exactly who authorized and participated in any effort by Russian nationals to influence our election in any manner,” he added.